Although this conference was not a technology based one (as most conferences that I attend are) their use of technology and social media was most impressive. Arriving early on the morning of the pre-conference workshops, I was invited to attend the keynote speaker’s session. Marcia Tate shared 20 Instructional Strategies that will train the brain – a very inspiring lady.

At lunchtime, I sat through a visual media introduction to New York and learnt how 20 treks had been developed using scvngr – a game all about going places, doing challenges and earning points. People were divided into smaller groups and given a metro train ticket to reach the initial point of their trek. At each point, they were to take a photo and take digital notes describing their surroundings. These photos and notes could be shared via a tweet or facebook, using the hashtag #pgl12 so that the whole conference group could share in their learning.

A conference app had also been developed and this one was the best that I have seen or used. On the left hand sidebar, it had direct and ready access to facebook, twitter, a personal planner and the ability to make friends. Features included:-

Cross platform – android, iDevices etc (not just for iPhones, iPads as most conferences that I have recently used)

The friends feature was great as this meant a friend’s photo, contact details etc are then shared and nicely contained within the app for future reference. No need for business cards.

Emailing notes – friends can be emailed your notes

A schedule for selecting events that participants want to attend – just click a star!

Exhibitors can be highlighted with a bookmark

Alerts and updates were available

Downloaded notes by speakers or presenters can be accessed through the app.

Maps of the conference centre.

News rss feed

Quick access to twitter and facebook

The downside was that internet access was erratic at times at the conference venue.

The hashtag #pgl12 was used for the conference. Interesting to note that initially there were not many people either registered for or using twitter, but high interest was shown in it as the conference progressed.

Congratulations to the organizers of this event and the embracement of technology to empower social networking.

Hi Karen, I found the apps really useful. I could bookmark or set up my personal planner so that I had quick access to my choices. Most sessions at these conferences were on a first in, first serve basis. At the Global Asia society conference the numbers were small enough to allow everyone to just go to the sessions of their first choice (there were 600 attendees) but at the ISTE conference with 16000 participants, the doors were closed when the room reached capacity. Their app allowed me to put three or more possible sessions of interest into the one time slot, so when one session was full, I had recorded alternatives to consider.
I loved the friends element in the Global Asia conference app though. There was no need to business cards, those who were made friends had their email addresses automatically come across with their photos (if they uploaded it). This meant I can ‘see’ who they are and not just try and remember from a stack of business cards with just written contact details. The maps made it easy to find the rooms etc.These apps will become an essential in future conferences.

About Me

G'day! I am a secondary teacher in a small rural prep to year 12 school in Australia. I teach Information Technology and Accounting and am passionate about learning, immersing technology in the classroom, rural education and global education.
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